}0 CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



spruce, burning of brush is probably not practicable in most cases, but 

 "downing" the tops, /. e., lopping the branches so that the branches and tops 

 fall to the ground and may decay in a short time, is practicable and can be 

 done within 15 cents per thousand feet, and for less if pulpwood is also 

 utilized. This method was first suggested by the writer in 1890, and last 

 year, for the first time, the State of New York compelled lumbermen on 

 their private holdings in the Adirondacks to adopt it. The Governments 

 of the Provinces having reserved the right to alter the conditions of the 

 licences could, in this particular at least, take the attitude that the safety of 

 their property required this precaution on the part of the operators, or if 

 this were not considered equitable, could otherwise compromise the cost, or 

 bear it for the sake of the future. 



"I hope the Committee on Forest of the Commission of Conservation 

 will soon accomplish its first assigned task, namely, to report on the 

 methods of fire fighting and fire prevention, tried and untried, which may 

 help to solve this all important problem. I also hope the Convention will 

 take up this subject, as well as the question of stocktaking, on which I had 

 intended to prepare a special contribution." 



THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER. 



The letter of the President, Mr. Thomas Southworth, was as follows r 

 "Members of the Canadian Forestry Association: I desire to express 

 my sincere regrets that circumstances, which I am unable to personally 

 control, make it impossible for me to be present at the Convention. I 

 regret this exceedingly, not alone because of my interest in the work of the 

 Association, on account of my responsibility as President of the Association 

 for this year, but also because of my great disappointment at not being able 

 to visit the City of Fredericton, to which I had been looking forward with 

 a great deal of pleasure. In spite of my enforced absence, however, I can- 

 not refrain from taking up the time of the Convention to very briefly men- 

 tion the present position of the Association. 



"On the whole during the year just coming to a close, the Canadian 

 Forestry Association has made very satisfactory progress. At our annual 

 meeting, held in Ottawa, in March last, a special committee was appointed 

 to consider the question of appointing a permanent Secretary, who, for a 

 reasonable salary, would give his whole time to the work of the Associa- 

 tion. Upon the recommendations of this committee, your Board of Direc- 

 tors decided to make such an appointment, and the present very efficient 

 Secretary, Mr. James Lawler, of Toronto, was secured for the position. 

 Mr. Lawler was a journalist of repute in Canada, knew conditions well in 

 the Western country, as well as the East, and was known to me, as having, 

 in his journalistic work, paid special attention to the subject of forestry. 

 Since his appointment, he has been very active in looking after the affairs 

 of the Association; the membership has been considerably increased, and he 

 has delivered a great many illustrated lectures in different parts of the 



